Book Review: Body and Soul by Stacey Kade

Warning: This review will contain mild spoilers about the previous books in The Ghost and the Goth series. 

At First Sight: It has been almost a month since Alona Dare - former school princess and unconventional spirit guide extraordinaire - got trapped inside Lily Turner's body trying to save her and neither she nor Will - the ghost talker she's supposed to be 'guiding' - know how to reverse the process or what will it mean for both Alona's spirit and Lily's body. 

Besides, things are really complicated as they are with Alona trying to fit into Lily's old family and Will's confusion about seeing his ghostly-sort-of-girlfriend in the body of his former friend and Alona's belief that he cares more for Lily than for her. 

And with summer drawing to an end they are trying to find some answers following some clues Will's father might or might not have left for him. Which leads them to a medium called Malachi the Magnificent who's in a very unique ghostly situation. 

Second Glance: I honestly don't want to spoil too much about Body and Soul but I seriously loved the book. I had been putting it off because it was the last of the trilogy and I love the previous two books but it was a really good finale. 

I love seeing Alona and Will bicker with each other, in a way is their way to show that they care. And I liked that they really tackle the moral dilema of Alona being in Lily's body and what that means for everyone - Will and Alona and Lily's family who aren't aware that Lily's spirt is long gone - it didn't just skirt around the issue and made everything magically okay. 

Body and Soul is also very funny but it got me teary eyed a few time toward the end when you got to see that even if their relationship was very complicated, both Will and Alona were better off because of one another. 

As always, I love Alona Dare, I think she's the star of the series with her prickly personality and her tons of attitude hiding a very vulnerable heart, yet she never comes off as the victim, and that's pretty tricky to pull off. 

Bottom Line: Body and Soul was a great conclusion to a really awesome series and I can't wait to read Stacey Kade's next project, she's an author that combines humor and characters with surprising depth with great skill. I loved where Alona and Will ended up, the ending was satisfying but, at the same time, I wouldn't mind hearing from them again. 

1/2

Book Gossip: Project Paper Doll - The Rules by Stacey Kate

Well, now, I'm a really big fan of Stacey Kate - I love her Ghost and the Goth series (Alona Dare is exactly my kind of ghost) - and a few days ago she reveled the cover of the first book in her next series "Project Paper Doll: The Rules" at IceyBooks (she's also running a giveaway of it!). I like the cover - it has a Person of Interest vibe - and it story sounds pretty awesome!! 

Here's the summary (courtesy of Good Reads) 

1. Never trust anyone.

2. Remember they are always searching.

3. Don’t get involved.

4. Keep your head down.

5. Don’t fall in love.

Five simple rules. Ariane Tucker has followed them since the night she escaped from the genetics lab where she was created, the result of combining human and extraterrestrial DNA. Ariane’s survival—and that of her adoptive father—depends on her ability to blend in among the full-blooded humans, to hide in plain sight from those who seek to recover their lost (and expensive) “project.”

But when a cruel prank at school goes awry, it puts her in the path of Zane Bradshaw, the police chief’s son and someone who sees too much. Someone who really sees her. After years of trying to be invisible, Ariane finds the attention frightening—and utterly intoxicating. Suddenly, nothing is simple anymore, especially not the rules…

This book comes out April 2013. 

Cover Love # 27 Body and Soul / Underworld

Two of my most awaited books for next year just revealed their covers!!

Body and Soul by Stacey Kade:

The Ghost

I’ve been trapped in the body of Lily “Ally” Turner for a month now. Talk about a fashion crisis on an epic scale. What worries me more, though, is sometimes I catch Will looking at me like he thinks I’m Lily…or that he wishes I were. Without the good looks of my former self, I don’t know who I am, or if who that is is good enough. I need out of this mess. Now.

Will and I have been looking for a solution, one that would separate me from Lily without killing her. But it’s not going well. Then, when it seems like things couldn’t get any worse, we run into Misty, my former best friend and boyfriend-stealer extraordinaire, who claims she’s being haunted…by me. Seriously?

I’m determined to get to the bottom of who’s pretending to be the spirit of Alona Dare (while I’m pretending to be someone else) and then get the heck out of this body. Or die trying…

The Goth

I’ll admit it. It’s really weird to look at Alona but see Lily. I do know the difference, though, contrary to what Alona might be saying. And Alona is more than a pretty face to me, not that she would believe that.

Our one lead for some help in this messed up situation might be a page torn from the yellow pages—the “Psychics” section—I found in my dad’s stuff. One of the “fakes” seems a bit more real—and odd—than the others. 


Before I can investigate further, though, Alona is off and chasing a ghost that’s probably nothing more than a figment of Misty’s guilty imagination. Now Lily’s family is freaking out because she didn’t come home, my mom is ordering me to stay out of it, and something is definitely wrong with the person formerly known as Lily “Ally” Turner…

Body and Soul will be published May 29th, 2012

And then, I give you Underworld (sequel to Abandon by Meg Cabot) - Thanks to Midnight Bloom Reads for the heads up on this cover reveal.

Escape from the realm of the dead is impossible when someone there wants you back.

Seventeen-year-old Pierce Oliviera isn’t dead.

Not this time.

But she is being held against her will in the dim, twilit world between heaven and hell, where the spirits of the deceased wait before embarking upon their final journey.

Her captor, John Hayden, claims it’s for her own safety. Because not all the departed are dear. Some are so unhappy with where they ended up after leaving the Underworld, they’ve come back as Furies, intent on vengeance…on the one who sent them there and on the one whom he loves.

But while Pierce might be safe from the Furies in the Underworld, far worse dangers could be lurking for her there…and they might have more to do with its ruler than with his enemies.

And unless Pierce is careful, this time there’ll be no escape.

Underworld will be released Summer 2012

Click to make bigger

Book Gossip #28 - Farewell to Charms & Body and Soul

Hey!! I have some stuff to share, namely the burbs of two books I'm seriously looking forward in 2012!!

First of... Farewell to Charms by Lindsey Leavitt - third book and last book of the Princess for Hire Series. I loved the first book and I LOVED the second one, and I just can't wait to read this one, particularly because of how book 2 ended!

Here's the cover and blurb:

Desi Bascomb is a princess substitute prodigy—she's the fastest agent ever to advance to level three in the Facade Agency, and the youngest to ever be a full-time sub. But now with all eyes on Desi, the only thing she wants is a moment alone to talk to Reed, who's a Façade legacy and possibly the sub for Prince Karl!

As Desi trains for her new role, she spies more than a few cracks in Façade’s perfect appearance. But uncovering the agency’s dark past might require more than a princess sub can handle by herself. Desi is no damsel in distress, but sometimes a girl needs a knight in shining armor.

 Farewell to Charms comes out June 26, 2012.

And second... I give you Body and Soul by Stacey Kade (book 3 of the Ghost and the Goth) which comes out May 29th, 2012.

Since it doesn't have a cover yet, I'll just put the blurb according to Amazon and to Stacey's site

From Amazon:

Alona Dare has been living as Lily “Ally” Turner for over a month...and it's not been easy. Besides being trapped in a body so not as good as her original one, she's failing miserably at playing the sister and daughter of people she barely knows. Plus, she can't help but think that Will Killian - the boy she hates to care about - somehow wishes the real Lily were back.

She and Will have been trying to find a solution, looking for a two-for-one miracle that would free Alona and keep Lily alive. Visits to local pyschics have proven useless, but then they stumble across Malachi the Magnificent, who seems to be different. His office is full of ghosts, for one thing.

But Malachi doesn’t seem to hear or see them, which is odd. Plus, he bolts the moment he sees Will. To make things even weirder, Misty Evans, Alona's former best friend, is waiting in Malachi's lobby and claiming that she's being haunted. By Alona.

Will's convinced that Malachi has answers, while Alona is all kinds of pissed that someone's impersonating her. But their efforts to uncover the truth will bring them much unwanted attention and put them directly in the path of a ghost who will stop at nothing for another stab at life. Even if it means destroying Alona.

From Stacey's site:

The Ghost

I’ve been trapped in the body of Lily “Ally” Turner for a month now. Talk about a fashion crisis on an epic scale. What worries me more, though, is sometimes I catch Will looking at me like he thinks I’m Lily…or that he wishes I were. Without the good looks of my former self, I don’t know who I am, or if who that is is good enough. I need out of this mess. Now.

Will and I have been looking for a solution, one that would separate me from Lily without killing her. But it’s not going well. Then, when it seems like things couldn’t get any worse, we run into Misty, my former best friend and boyfriend-stealer extraordinaire, who claims she’s being haunted…by me. Seriously?

I’m determined to get to the bottom of who’s pretending to be the spirit of Alona Dare (while I’m pretending to be someone else) and then get the heck out of this body. Or die trying…

The Goth

I’ll admit it. It’s really weird to look at Alona but see Lily. I do know the difference, though, contrary to what Alona might be saying. And Alona is more than a pretty face to me, not that she would believe that.

Our one lead for some help in this messed up situation might be a page torn from the yellow pages—the “Psychics” section—I found in my dad’s stuff. One of the “fakes” seems a bit more real—and odd—than the others. Before I can investigate further, though, Alona is off and chasing a ghost that’s probably nothing more than a figment of Misty’s guilty imagination. Now Lily’s family is freaking out because she didn’t come home, my mom is ordering me to stay out of it, and something is definitely wrong with the person formerly known as Lily “Ally” Turner…

I'm so excited to read these, and I can't wait!!

Book Review: Queen of the Dead by Stacey Kade

At First Sight: It has been a couple of months since newly dead Alona Dare became Will Killian's spirit guide, and they work surprisingly well together. 

Then, one summer night, as they are working with a particularly angry ghost, Will and Alona come across another ghost-talker - a girl called Mina. 

Soon, Will is obsessed with finding answers, trying to figure out stuff about his dad and questioning if he should be helping the living rather than focusing on the dead, and Mina just keeps taunting him with glimpses of some of those answers.

Meanwhile, Alona is discovering that her family is moving on without her. Her mom is throwing out her things and her dad and step-mother are having a new baby. And, to top it all off, Will isn't listening what she says.

Then, Mina - with her frizzy hair, weird ghost-busting gadgets and secrets - becomes a sore point between Alona and Will, starting a chain of events that ends with unexpected consequences.

Second Glance: Queen of the Dead is the second book in the Ghost and the Goth series, and I really liked it for the most part. I love Alona and Will, I love their interaction - for me that's the great strenght of this series, how well Alona and Will play off each other. 

Also, in this book we learn tons of stuff about ghost-talkers, while leaving just enough questions unanswered to have me counting the days until the next book comes out... next year! Oh, and there is a bit of a twist that was hinted at during G&G, and I really liked it. I actually cheered a little when I realized what was happening. Not that it won't be an issue in the next book, but so far I'm really happy with what happened.

But, I hated Mina. Boy did I hate her! (!!!) She is manipulative, and kind of mean, and I just didn't like her. And she kind of bummed me a bit, and I have the suspicion that she'll be back in the next book. Also, the pace was a bit off for me, I felt the first book was more, sort of dynamic somehow, but it wasn't a big issue.

Bottom Line: Queen of the Dead was a really fun read. I love these characters, they make me laugh and I can't wait for book three.

Favorite Quote: Add to all of that, the person that I spent the most time with now was a beautiful girl who happened to be a spirit but who was still living (in he own way) and very touchable? Yeah. For some reason that meant only one thing to my mom -- the possibility of me having weird, undead, inter-dimensional SEX. 

Right.

I wish.

Book Review: The Ghost and the Goth by Stacey Kade

At First Sight: Queen Bee Alona Dare's life gets cut short when, a few weeks before graduation, she gets run over by a school bus but, for some reason, she didn't go to the great beyond right away, and instead keeps waking up in the middle of the street where she died.

In the days that follow her death, Alona gets to see how everyone is moving on without her, like she was never there, like she was never important. And that gets her plenty mad, too bad there is nothing she can do because no one can see or hear her. No one, that is, except for Will Killian.

Social reject Will Kill who was so far out of Alona's sphere that she barely noticed him in life, just knowing that he was the resident weirdo of their high school... and she might have just discovered why he's always acting so weird.

All his life, Will has been able to see the dead - just like his Dad did before him - and suffered for it. He has an over protective mother, a psychiatrist hell vent on sending him to a "facility" and he's on the high school principal's black list. Still, he figures that if he can stick it out until he's 18 he'll be able to get out of town and stay out of trouble.

Until he lets his guard slip and Alona realizes that he can see the dead, suddenly, ghosts are clamoring for his help and landing him in trouble left and right; and the only one willing to help him is Queen of Mean Alona.

Second Glance: I'm going to come clean and say that I sort of dismissed  The Ghost and the Goth when I first saw it last year. I was having a paranormal overload and I don't know, I just thought the cover was cute but not much else. However, then I read Small Review's thoughts on The Ghost and the Goth and then on Queen of the Dead, and it got me thinking that maybe I have been too quick to dismiss Alona and Will.

So I reconsidered.

And I'm SO GLAD I DID!

There is a lot more to G&G than what meets the eye first. I loved Alona, she's definitely a bit of a mean girl, but she's fabulously mean and there is a lot more to her than just that. There are layers to her personality, and a real story behind the image she projected. Plus, she was really smart.

Will was a loner, sure, but with surprisingly few issues other than the "I See Dead People" thing and all it implied, I got the sense that he was a good friend and a good son, and I totally liked him for it.

The book has a dual narration and I liked getting into both their heads, each with a distinct voice but both equally fun. Plus the book was a great pace, that kept me going even though it was the middle of the night and I really should have been asleep.

Bottom Line: I loved Alona and Will, and The Ghost and the Goth is definitely one of my favorite reads of this year. I can't wait to read Queen of the Dead and see what's in store for this odd-but-very-functional couple.

Favorite Quote: There were so many, but I don't trust myself not to spoil much, so I'm picking one from the beginning.
“Trust me, I’d find someone else if I could. You’re just mad because I never talked to you when I was alive.”
“Yeah, the waves of regret are washing over me.” -- Alona & Will

2/3

Cover Love #18 - Queen of the Dead

Haven't done one of these (Cover Love) in a while and when I saw the one for Queen of the Dead, I just thought it was cute. I have yet to read The Ghost and the Goth but I got it in my TBR pile. I love both covers, actually. And I hope I like the books.